Search as long as you wish. Relax. Take your time. Keep looking. You won't find a coordinator on Belichick's coaching staff.

In that regard, the New England Patriots stand alone in the NFL in 2010.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' departure in 2009, to begin the extreme makeover he's undertaken in Denver, created one void. Defensive coordinator Dean Pees' departure - his contract up at the conclusion of the 2009 season, Pees is now the linebackers coach on John Harbaugh's staff in Baltimore - created another.

Contrast that to the days when "big-name" coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel were backing Belichick, forming a triumvirate that brought three Super Bowl championships in four years to New England, prompting suitors from Notre Dame and the Cleveland Browns to come knocking on the doors of Gillette Stadium.

Times sure have changed.

As for Belichick, he simply isn't going to play the name game.

"Titles are fine, nothing wrong with them," Belichick said in a February release posted on the team's website. "But the most important thing is each person's role, that we do everything we can to help the players succeed - everyone collectively getting the job done."

But Belichick appears to do more than most head coaches.

For better or worse, it seems Belichick has made his quest to bring New England its first Super Bowl title since 2004 (its first postseason win since 2007 would be a start) a personal crusade.

Heading into his 11th season as head coach in New England, Belichick stands as the lone head coach in the league operating with neither an offensive nor defensive coordinator.

Belichick's plate as the first public practice at training camp nears (July 29) would appear to be more full than Vince Wilfork's in a buffet line.

The question: Is he trying to do too much?

For the second straight season, the mere mention of quarterbacks coach Bill O'Brien's name will prompt the term "de facto offensive coordinator."

While he continues to refute the notion - "I'm coaching the quarterbacks," he insisted at the conclusion of last month's mandatory team minicamp, while describing the entire process as "a collaborative effort" - it sure looked like O'Brien was calling the team's plays in 2009. His approach at the aforementioned minicamp indicated that he'll have that role in 2010.

O'Brien, 40, has experience as an offensive coordinator at the college level, having served in that role at both Georgia Tech and Duke.

On the defensive side of the ball, in the wake of Pees' departure - the team issued a statement from the former coordinator in which he said he'd decided to "not seek to renew" his contract - speculation centered around a potential promotion for either 35-year-old linebackers coach Matt Patricia or longtime line coach Pepper Johnson.

Of course, he has a "defensive genius" protecting his back - and perhaps Belichick wishes to exert his will on a defense some believe has become too passive at times?

Defensively, Pees turns over a unit that didn't turn the ball over often enough or at the most opportune of times, too often failing to make the game-settling play with an interception, a forced fumble or even a sack.

The de facto coordinator approach met with mixed results on offense in 2009 - 397.3 yards and 26.7 points per game, but a group that at times seemed to have all the rhythm of an elementary school concert.